


Light (The New Beginnings Remix)

by laireshi



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Morning After, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 10:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17865263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laireshi/pseuds/laireshi
Summary: Tony just wants to stay friends. Steve has other ideas.





	Light (The New Beginnings Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [runningondreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningondreams/gifts).
  * Inspired by [In the Dark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17037440) by [runningondreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningondreams/pseuds/runningondreams). 
  * In response to a prompt by [runningondreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningondreams/pseuds/runningondreams) in the [2019_Cap_Ironman_Remix_Madness](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/2019_Cap_Ironman_Remix_Madness) collection. 



> Be sure to read the original fic, which broke my heart. A few lines of dialogue are taken from it.

Tony wakes slowly, more rested and content than he’s been in a long time. Steve’s next to him, talking on a phone, still naked—

Wait, rewind. _Steve’s next to him. In bed. Naked._

Tony blinks sleep out of his eyes as the memory of the last night comes back to him, and he’s simultaneously thrilled and horrified. It’s everything he’s ever wanted, and yet . . . 

It’s _Steve_. His best friend. Tony can live with Steve not loving him—and Steve clearly doesn’t, the physical attraction notwithstanding—but this, this is crossing a line into _dangerous_. Sex complicates things. Tony’s not willing to trade their friendship for a night of fun. 

_Breathe_ , he tells himself. He reaches for his phone to avoid running his fingers down Steve’s skin. He browses through his messages, as if reading about SI’s stock will help calm him down, like checking the research team’s blueprints will make him learn how to salvage things between him and Steve. 

He’s not sure how long it’s been when Steve turns to him. There are still unread messages in his inbox, but then, there _always_ are. 

Tony talks before Steve can, moving slightly away from the man. If Steve touched him to relax him before letting him down gently, if Steve were the one to say _I don’t actually want you_ , Tony would crumble. 

“So this was . . . really nice.” He looks everywhere but at Steve’s face. “I very much . . . would like to do this again.” He didn’t mean to say that much.

“Yeah,” Steve says, easily, immediately; Tony hears his own heartbeat wildly in his ears as hope surges within him.

He stamps down on it. There’s no use going down that road. He knows what he has to do. 

“But I think I have to say—between the company and the Avengers and my secret identity and the press I don’t . . . I’m probably too busy for a relationship. And you seem—you seem really busy too—” He trails off, because he knows he sounds pathetic. _Too busy for a relationship Steve doesn’t even want._

Steve nods. Steve agrees with him. Steve says all the right words in reply. Tony’s heart does not break in two.

Last night was fantastic, but Tony should’ve never let himself fall in bed with Steve, of all people. Casual sex and Captain America were not things Tony could mix.

“I should get in uniform,” Steve says, standing up. There’s something off in his face. Regret, most probably. Tony swallows down, trying not to panic, stands too.

“Friends, right?” he asks, hoping his voice doesn’t shake. If Steve says no . . . 

“Friends,” Steve confirms, and then he’s turning away, gathering his clothes.

Tony lets himself breathe. That is good. That means they will be okay, whatever bad decisions might have been taken. They’ll be safe.

Steve moves towards the door once he pulls his trousers on, but then he stops before actually turning the knob. He’s still shirtless, and Tony watches the muscles in his back move as he breathes.

He turns back. 

“Actually,” he says, and Tony’s heart falls down. 

He’s ruined it.

But Steve’s smiling at him, a shy little thing. “I know you’re busy. I—I won’t insist if you say no. But . . . I’m a superhero too. I know we’re always short on time. I wouldn’t mind waiting for you. If you’d like to try—try a relationship with me.”

_Say no_ , Tony thinks. _Say no, because otherwise you will make him hate you._

“What if we fight?” Tony asks in a small voice instead. “We’re—the Avengers—” 

“It’s not like we don’t argue as friends,” Steve says. “And, whatever else happens, you’ll always stay my friend.”

“Promise?” Tony knows fully well he’s asking for something that can’t be promised at all, but Steve nods without hesitation.

If only Tony didn’t want this so badly.

“Then let’s try,” he says.

When Steve kisses him, it’s different than last night. There’s no reservation in him at all, just warmth as he takes Tony’s face in his hands and kisses the breath out of him. 

And Tony lets himself believe him.


End file.
